By: Kornelia Januszewska. Together with Finland and Iceland - as well as the territories of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Åland - they form the broader region known as the Nordic countries. Influential Swedish illustrator W alking around Stockholm, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that Easter is getting closer day by day. Friday, 26 March 2021 Tomorrow marks the first day of Påsklov (the Easter Holidays) here in Sweden. In Sweden and Finland, it is an Easter tradition for children to dress as witches, old women and old men and go door to door for treats similar to the trick-or-treating tradition of Halloween on Maundy Thursday or the day before Easter (Holy Saturday). Eggs, potatoes, meatballs, and pickled herring take center stage, together with traditional dishes such as Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation) and, of course, snaps. Photo: Jenny Drakenlind/Johnér/imagebank.sweden.se Next Ethiopia's Belated Easter Celebration. The Easter Witch is also a tradition in Finland. These days, witches are still active on Skärtorsdagen, but mainly in the form of young children who dress up as Easter witches, or påskkärringar. of the Swedish Easter Tree Marlene Hugoson Abstract Customs are by their nature ever changing, being transformed by each new generation. The night between Saturday and Easter Sunday was another time when witches were traditionally believed to be active, as they flew back home from Blåkulla. When . Easter witch or Easter hag) instead of a trollpacka. Today, despite having become a kind of “trick or treat” for children, remains of this ancient belief about witches are still in the west of the country, in fact, it is common to find bonfires in the fields or hear shots on Gloria’s Saturday night. All rights reserved. About two thousand years ago, the Jews were slaves in Egypt, and they celebrate Easter in memory of leaving Egypt and going to what is now Israel. The blog is still having some technical issues and I can’t post any photos. By comparison, only a tiny percentage of accused witches (men and women) were killed. Glad Påsk everybody!!! If you were visiting a relative’s summer country house, you might also see vases filled with twigs, with feathers topping the twigs. Swedes celebrate easter in March/April. This time of the year, I’ve loved to see the construction paper cards pile up, crayons dull and glue sticks flatten when my kids have made these. In the middle of the nineteenth century, at least, ... tradition must have been that the belief in witches and witchcraft was no longer common or widespread in Sweden. Easter witches. In addition to the Easter Bunny, who will hide eggs around the house for the children of Sweden, an old tradition here is the so-called Easter Witch or 'Påskkärring'. Originally, Easter was a Jewish tradition. See more ideas about easter, sweden, easter traditions. It is uncertain when the tradition of children dressing up as Easter witches began but it was probably in the 1800s. In the Christian calendar, the Thursday before Easter is a holy day that kicks off the celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, which culminates on Easter Sunday. Easter in Swedish: påsk. While some Swedes honor the religious holiday by going to church, so much of Sweden is secularized that the holiday is more about family, friends and fun. Skärtorsdag (Maundy Thursday) This is the time when the witches will set off to a place called blåkulla to celebrate... 2. – that involves solving riddles and finding clues. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The founder/editor of Real Scandinavia, Påskkärringar. In Norway and Denmark, the name of the day is the same as in Sweden — spelled Skjærtorsdag in Norwegian and Skærtorsdag in Danish — but there is no tradition of Easter witches. It’s in Swedish, but well worth the effort to read it. Swedish children dress up as witches or old ladies and go from house to house with pictures they’ve drawn in hopes of receiving some sweets in exchange for their hard work. This harks back to an old Swedish folk tradition stating that, around this time of year, witches would fly on their broomsticks to dance with the devil at Blåkulla. Estabild, c/o Pinterest . Of these, 65 were women — a fifth of the entire adult female population of the parish! Unlike the U.K. and Europe, Sweden and Finland largely escaped the impact of the 400 year-old witch hunt. No, it's påsk, easter in Sweden. Keep learning Swedish with us! When you open your house door and you find Swedish kids standing on your door mat, dressed like witches, don't feel confused it's already Halloween. Many children dress out as påskkärringar or easterwitches in... 3. The reasoning behind this belief was that this was the day that Judas betrayed Jesus, an act that set loose all the evil forces in the world. Eggs were sometimes painted in different colours, probably because they were often given away as presents. Skíra becomes skär in modern Swedish, and torsdag means Thursday, so the name Skärtorsdagen can be translated as “the cleansing Thursday.”. But our neighbors also have some of their own unique Easter traditions. PS. The custom of bringing birch twigs into the … This could also be why Swedish kids dress up as witches at Easter and do a kind of 'trick or treating' for Easter eggs. The tradition is said to come from the old belief that witches would fly to a German mountain the Thursday before Easter to cavort with Satan. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Feathers are used for Easter Decorations. Shops’ displays are filling up with yellow chicks, colorful eggs and widely-smiling bunnies – typical, you could say, of Easter symbols. Bummer!!! Sep 9, 2012 - Swedish Easter and Easter Witches. 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